


What Happens Next (and then after that?)

by radiowrittenheart



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: #squad goals, Alternate Universe - 1990s, Alternate Universe - Human, Friendship, Gen, ILY MIMZIE SO HERE YOU GO, Neighbors, Oneshot (probably), Summer Vacation, glossaryck and tom cameos, idk what this is???, janna hates furbies, marco x tamagotchis otp, pop culture references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 17:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7277455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiowrittenheart/pseuds/radiowrittenheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the summer of 1996, and Marco Diaz realized that he barely knew the girl next door. Star Bloomingfield was a curious case, but something pulled them together. Friendship comes in unlikely cases, just like those so-bad-they're-good tv movie musicals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Happens Next (and then after that?)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> SO MY DEAR FRIEND MIMZIE MADE A 90'S AU FOR STARCO AND I HAD A JAVA MONSTER SO I WAS LIKE ??? HELL YEAH BABY. *ahem* This is what happened. I sorta made my own. Besides, Mimzie is amazing and deserves a gift.

Echo Creek, California. The ultimate definition of Suburbia; streets with bike lanes and perfectly parked cars, the In-N-Out 24/7 convenience store with 99-cent rainbow mega slurpees, even the perfect houses with white picket fences. Well … not every property was this way.

Namely, that of Marco Diaz and his next door neighbor, Star Bloomingfield.

He had a villa-like home, complete with swirling tower-like rooms and a solid wooden door. His house was colorful from top to bottom. Cacti littered the front lawn, along with halfway finished sculptures. What could he say? His parents were creative and eclectic. Marco admired it. It expressed his culture and family — so what if gatherings were a little wild? It was all he knew.

She was stuck with a solid brick building, a few windows frosted over and black shades often drawn. The few flowers in the lawn were dandelions. The fence was chain-link and five feet high. The rumor around the neighborhood was that the place looked like a prison. And with poor Janice Bloomingfield, principal of a boarding school from out of town, raising Star, that was expected.

A single row of brush kept the two parted. They exchanged ‘hey there’ and ‘hi’ every Thursday, when they had to take out the garbage. Sometimes a head nod during checking the mail. That was it, really.

There was an odd tension, a tightrope neither of them wanted to cross. Not yet, anyway.

~ ~ ~ ~

Today was officially the thirty-second day of summer and Marco Diaz had done nothing.

Bikes littered the front lawn, and one skateboard. His friends were slumming it on his couch, huddled around a fan and probably eating all of the popsicles. And here he was, hesitating near the bushes that separated him and Star.

Word got out that, after being homeschooled her whole life, she would be allowed to go to high school with the rest of them. Marco — being not only the Safe Kid, but also the Nice Guy — wanted to be friends with her before that trainwreck unfolded before them all.

“We stalkin’ someone?”

Marco yelped, instantly jumping into a karate pose, only to be face to face with … well, friend may have been an overstatement. “Don’t do that, Janna,” he grumbled. “And no, I’m not you.” He eyed the dripping red around her mouth, and immediately wrote it off as leftover popsicle.

Janna grinned wickedly, licking her lips and peering through the brush. “Hey, isn’t that the weird girl?”

“She’s not weird,” Marco hissed.

“She got a name? Isn’t it, like, Comet or somethin’?”

“Star—”

Janna’s eyes went wide and she chuckled. “Oh, yeah, Bloomingfield. Her aunt’s got a log up her ass.”

Marco flustered at her sudden vulgarity, rolling his eyes dismissively. “I was just, y’know, thinking if she wanted to hang out with us,” he said. “She doesn’t get out much, and her aunt’s out right now.”

“Good luck making it past her uncle,” Janna said, licking away the last bit of red on her lips. “He’s a shut in and a loon. Tried to con fifty bucks outta him and he ended up giving me a bunch of riddles. I just took his keys and ran. Came back later that night and the locks were changed,”

“Uh-huh,” Marco mused, nodding as if he didn’t believe her.

He watched as Janna ran back into the house, her boots leaving heavy stomps in his already worn-out lawn. The sun was brutal, it was high noon in a California summer. And so, he seriously contemplated inviting Star Bloomingfield over for some popsicles and to rewind VHS tapes until they spewed out of the player…

...but not today. Besides, Marco could hear Alfonzo and Ferguson trying to do weird stuff with his microwave.

Maybe tomorrow.

~ ~ ~ ~

Marco had completely forgotten. After the mess that was the Microwave Hot Dog Explosion Incident, he had a karate competition that he had lost miserably. So yes, he may have been spending the past few days in his room, enjoying the A/C and reading comic book after comic book. He was perfectly content in wallowing in his misery.

That is, until his air conditioner faltered.

He grumbled, getting up and pounding a fist on the top — which actually worked. However, he did notice something out of the corner of his eye.

Star Bloomingfield was in her backyard. And she had someone with her.

Perhaps it was rude for Marco to think so, but he had thought Star didn’t have any friends. Yet here she was, sitting in the backyard with another girl, laughing and the two of them messing with a makeup kit. The other girl completely contrasted Star in appearance; heavily tanned skin, husky build, loud laugh (an almost obnoxious one, actually) and insanely tied-up hair.

The two girls were having a good time. And Marco gave a small smile. It was good to see Star had someone, after all.

But nonetheless.

This was the summer before high school. It had to be amazing.

Tomorrow, for sure, Marco promised.

~ ~ ~ ~

He had gotten dragged to the water park with Jackie Lynn, and how could he say no? She was not only one of his closest friends, but also the prettiest girl in Echo Creek. Well, according to Marco, anyway. She played on a handheld the whole ride there and back, though, so interaction was minimal. He still got to ride down the slide with her, so that was a start.

Hand-holding next time. Maybe. They could at least share a soda or … something.

But once he got out of the Thomas family’s bright blue minivan, Marco noticed something out of the ordinary. A scrawny boy was being thrown out of the Bloomingfield house, and Star’s aunt held her by the arm, yelling at both kids. Other neighbors turned the blind eye, continuing to mow their grass and pull out of driveways.

No one said anything.

No one hollered at Janice Bloomingfield for sending her niece into tears.

No one questioned the red mark on the face of the loudmouth boy in the lawn.

Marco Diaz hid behind the shrubs dividing his house from Star’s and just listened. The woman was harsh, and he could only feel sorry for Star. How could she live with that?

The next day, and the day after, and beyond that, he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Star Bloomingfield.

And Thursday, the day he always saw her, no matter what, she wasn’t at the curb.

~ ~ ~ ~

It was the fifty-sixth day of summer. Fourth of July. Marco found his house completely crowded with Diazes and his mother’s family with the Greek last name he could never pronounce. Another family gathering and then some.

All of his friends had showed up too; Jackie Lynn, Janna, Alfonzo and Ferguson. It was officially summer now. Things were going to be beyond awesome from here on out.

It was the fifty-sixth day of summer and Marco Diaz was finally going to ask Star Bloomingfield to come over to his house and have some fun. He was in the backyard, watching his father grill food and playfully joust in Spanish with his relatives, and snuck over to the brush.

For the first time in what felt like forever, he saw Star. She was tired. And skinny.

A man Marco hadn’t seen before was sitting with Star on the back porch; skinny glasses on the bridge of his crooked nose as he read a book to her. Marco assumed this strange man with an oversized yellow t-shirt and tiny blue flip flops was the uncle Janna had mentioned.

He hadn’t seen him before, but regardless—

—Marco Diaz, the Safe Kid, broke a rule. He trespassed. He snuck right through the bushes and found himself in Star Bloomingfield’s backyard.

She perked up, giving an awkward wave while her uncle kept reading out loud.

“Star, right?” Marco tried to act casual. How laughable. She barely had time to finish nodding before he kept rambling on; “Look, my family’s having, like, this huge barbeque and we’re gonna have plenty of food leftover. Wanna grab something to eat? A-and, y’know, all my friends are there too. We can all hang out together, if you want.”

She glanced at her uncle, and he waved a hand to let her go.

Marco smiled, adjusting the red, white and blue striped shirt his mother had begged him to wear. “Your aunt and uncle can come too,” he said.

The softest “oh” escaped Star, and she shook her head. She got up off the porch, her gaudy necklace clinking with each step she took. Marco knew that his next door neighbor’s fashion sense was odd but getting an up-close look at her…

...huh.

“I’m Marco,” he smiled, outstretching a hand to her. “Marco Diaz.”

She grinned, taking his hand and shaking it wildly. “I’m Star!” she beamed, her voice high-pitched and peppy. He never would have expected that of the meek, timid girl next door. She always seemed so … low-key. “But I guess you already knew that, silly!”

There was a soft slap of a door, and Star’s eyes — so bright, so blue — dimmed. She glanced back at her uncle, who gave a thumbs-up and she darted through the bushes with Marco.

“By the way!” she piped up. “Thanks!”

“Uh,” Marco trailed off. “Sure.”

~ ~ ~ ~

It was the sixty-second day of summer, and Star became part of the group already. Just a little over a week, but she blended in perfectly. Her and Janna would sneak notes through the bushes, she had made matching bracelets with Jackie Lynn, while Star also made time for prank calls with Alfonzo and Ferguson.

Marco found himself dumbstruck. How had this lively girl come from a home that looked so strict?

Sure, she had a few awkward tendencies, like not knowing how a VCR worked or getting ridiculously excited over something as simple as ordering pizza, but they all knew one truth: Star had been sheltered.

So this summer had to be even more amazing, for Star.

That was the secret the group kept from her.

~ ~ ~ ~

It was the seventieth day of summer — well, night, actually. Marco found himself elusive to sleep and was sitting on the roof, watching the blurs of lights and full moon of a summer night. But it seemed that he wasn’t alone; for he saw Star sitting on her back porch.

And she was crying.

Marco couldn’t help himself, but at 11:38 on that chilly summer night, he jumped from his roof to his treehouse and waved down at her.

“Hey,” he stage-whispered. “Are you okay?”

Star was alerted, and looked up at him like a deer in the headlights. She gave a pathetic shrug, getting up to dash back inside—

“Wait!” Marco hissed.

Star turned on her heel, looking up at him with confusion. He slapped his ‘NO GIRLS ALLOWED’ sign onto the floor, waving Star his way. She hesitated before sneaking through the bushes and gripping the rope ladder, swallowing hard. There were two sides to every story, and Star Bloomingfield had endless chapters in hers, it seemed.

Eventually, though, she heaved herself up into the treehouse, sitting across the way from Marco.

“What’s up?” she said, her voice lively even when whispering.

“Were you okay?” he asked, fishing out two orange sodas from under a blanket. Dammit. Janna had to have made off with some — and where were his Tamagotchis?

So much for no girls allowed…

Star shrugged, taking the soda and instantly beginning to chug it. Another thing: the poor girl rarely drank soda, and never had a slurpee either. It was practically Marco’s quest at this point to keep Star in the loop on all things cool.

And he was actually the least cool one of the group…

“No,” she finally blurted out. “The moon made me sad.”

“The moon,” Marco said slowly. “Why?”

It was full tonight, and had a red tint to it. Wasn’t that some kind of eclipse? He wasn’t sure, he usually slept through science class.

“Because,” Star declared matter-of-factly. “That’s what my mom was named after. And she died on a full moon. Along with my dad,” She didn’t falter at Marco’s shocked expression. “They were named Moon and River. Hippies, I guess. I dunno. They ‘went missing’ on my fourth birthday so … ten years ago today.”

Marco fell silent. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t know.” He paused, then did quick math in his head. “Is today your fourteenth birthday?”

Star paused before nodding.

“Happy birthday, Star,” Marco said. He dug under his blanket again, taking out a mangled-up and half-eaten package of Oreos. “It’s no cake, but here.”

She grinned stupidly, giggling as tears brimmed her eyes. “Thanks, Marco,” she mumbled.

It was the seventy-first day of summer and Star Bloomingfield was finally convinced she had a new friend.

~ ~ ~ ~

“Aunt Janice is on my case,” Janna read from the note. “Can’t hang today, guys. Sorry, with, like, a bazillion exclamation points. Hugs and kisses, Star.” She gagged at the farewell, and rolled her eyes. “It looks like we can’t teach her how to skateboard today.”

Marco frowned. It was the last week of summer, and all of the good times he had with Star weren’t going to fade. He wouldn’t let it happen.

He bolted up from the couch, heading for the door.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Jackie Lynn said, lounging in a beanbag and lazily chewing on the chain of her necklace.

“I’m gonna go get Star,” Marco declared. “I’ll just… I dunno, talk to her aunt.”

Ferguson winced. “Marco, do you have a death wish?” he blurted out. “I accidentally threw a frisbee into their yard and Star’s weirdo aunt came out and broke the thing in half. With her bare hands.”

Marco frowned slightly, stopping with his hand hovering over the doorknob.

He had witnessed the day with the scrawny, angry boy. And come to think of it, he hadn’t seen that loud girl with Star anymore. From the looks of it, the only friend Star had was him. So that was why Marco kept walking, and made his way next door.

Janice was checking the mail today.

She was a miserable and strict-looking woman. A tiny tattoo of a club was just below her left cheek, and she glowered at everyone. It wasn’t unusual for most people in town to dislike her.

“Are you the Diaz boy?” she said snippily.

“Uh, yeah,” Marco said, giving a shaky smile and offering his hand for a shake. “I’m Marco.”

Janice eyed his hand, but didn’t shake it. “I assume you want something to do with my niece,” she grumbled. “What ridiculous excursion will you have her go on this time?”

Star must have been caught. That explained a lot.

“We — uh, my friends and I — wanted to take her to the skate park and grab some lunch,” he admitted.

“My niece has better things to do with her time,” Janice declared, slamming the mailbox close and walking briskly back to the house. She said nothing more, not even giving Marco a second glance.

Meanwhile, Marco noticed something … the trash was taken out early. He saw colors, so many colors, and toys and— wait a second. These were all of Star’s personal belongings. Her outrageous necklaces, adorned with cheap toys from the quarter-coin machines at the grocery stores. The ‘wand’ she made out of cardboard and glowsticks. Along with her glittery makeup kit. Slap bracelets from Janna, seashells from Jackie Lynn, the joke book from Alfonzo and Ferguson…

...the puppy plushie Star had found in his treehouse and begged to keep.

Marco felt his heart shatter. His new friend, sent from who knows where — coincidence or fate — was probably gone for good.

~ ~ ~ ~

Today was the last day of summer and Star Bloomingfield was in Marco Diaz’s front yard. She didn’t even say hello, she had just bolted out of her house and into his front lawn, practically tackling him in a hug.

She was crying and blubbering and all she could get out was “I missed you.”

Of course. They had become so close over those few weeks they spent, and they had lived next door their whole lives. Once they got to know each other, being apart was rough. But here Star was, wearing a red and yellow t-shirt that proudly said ‘ECHO CREEK OPOSSUMS, CLASS OF 2000’ and Marco beamed. She would be going to high school with him.

Star was close as she could be to being free.

Summer had escaped them, but they now had four for-sure years together.

“I’ll see you at the bus stop tomorrow!” she squealed.

He had planned to ride his bike with the rest of his friends … but for Star, he’d do whatever she asked right now. Marco Diaz had a second chance with a mystery girl — and not mysterious like from a Goosebumps book. Mysterious, like a fairy or … something. She was magical, in her own way.

And that was all he cared about.

Who would have thought that one summer was all it took for Marco Diaz to believe in magic?

~ ~ ~ ~

_**bonus:** _

Miss Silverwick, affectionately called Skullnick, by her students, was calling roll on the first day of school. Room 21C was a mixed bag; half of it all abuzz and the other half falling asleep at their desks. In the teacher’s strange fashion, she called roll completely out of order—

“Jacqueline Thomas,”

“It’s Jackie Lynn, teach,” was the grumbled reply.

“Janna Ordonia,”

Janna grunted while tearing apart a Furby at her desk, her bright blue glitter gel pen stabbing the eyes out.

“Ferguson O'durguson,”

Said student was too busy chugging an odd mix of soda and coffee to answer, and pathetically waved.

“Oskar Greason,”

Silverwick winced at the static electronic noise coming from the boy’s toy piano.

“Alfonzo Doolittle,”

“Uh, actually, it’s Della—”

“Don’t care. Marco Diaz?”

Always the good student, Marco beamed out a smile and declared himself present.

And finally, the student everyone in class had been dying to hear the name of: “Star Bloomingfield.”

“Heeeeere!” she practically squealed, waving a hand whilst doodling on her desk with a furry pink glitter gel pen. She giggled, glancing to Marco — who smiled like an idiot that yes, he was friends with the weird new girl. And he didn’t care.

It was the first day of high school and Marco Diaz was friends with Star Bloomingfield.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated! :)


End file.
